# to retrohale or not to retrohale?



## ouirknotamuzd (Jan 29, 2011)

hey Piper Bros
over on the cigar side, retrohaling cigars is a good thing..but I wanna know if it's done with pipe smoke too?...also, which blends are best for retrohaling?

thanks


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

I do it with all of them.


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## PinkFloydFan (Oct 1, 2009)

Commander Quan said:


> I do it with all of them.


+1. CQ

I think retrohaling is something that truely allows many of the subtle flavors and sensations of both pipe and cigar smoke to be appreciated and enjoyed.

I do this as well, with every blend I smoke.

- Vin


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## ChronoB (Nov 4, 2007)

ouirknotamuzd said:


> hey Piper Bros
> over on the cigar side, retrohaling cigars is a good thing..but I wanna know if it's done with pipe smoke too?...also, which blends are best for retrohaling?
> 
> thanks


Yes, and all of them, as far as I'm concerned!


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Not sure whether you mean French inhaling or snorking, but it doesn't matter -- I do both! You "French inhale" the smoke as it come from your mouth. With snorking, you exhale smoke from your mouth through your nose. The French inhale is optional, but at least an occasional snork is _de rigueur_.


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## Jeff10236 (Nov 21, 2010)

I will always retrohale when smoking an English or other non-aromatic. With aromatics, it depends upon the aromatic- with some of the lower quality ones retrohaling is uncomfortable and unpleasant.


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## funbags (Jan 19, 2011)

Jeff10236 said:


> I will always retrohale when smoking an English or other non-aromatic. With aromatics, it depends upon the aromatic- with some of the lower quality ones retrohaling is uncomfortable and unpleasant.


YES


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## Natedogg (Jun 21, 2010)

I always retrohale. I was doing it before I even knew what "retrohaling" was.


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## shannensmall (Jun 30, 2010)

Natedogg said:


> I always retrohale. I was doing it before I even knew what "retrohaling" was.


Same here, from my very first cigar, it just came naturally.

I'm a firm believer that one should retrohale, regardless of what baccy or what cigar they are smoking. It's the only way to get the full effect of the flavors.


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## Jivey (Dec 6, 2010)

Retrohaling without actually inhaling is a must for me!


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## SmokinSpider (May 12, 2010)

Jivey said:


> Retrohaling without actually inhaling is a must for me!


+1, I find that smoke form pipes is not as strong or hot has as cigar smoke. I can retrohale cigars about once every 3rd or 4th puff, but with pipes I can do it every puff.


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## shannensmall (Jun 30, 2010)

SmokinSpider said:


> +1, I find that smoke form pipes is not as strong as cigar smoke. I can retrohale cigars about once every 3rd or 4th puff, but with pipes I can do it every puff.


Some of the stronger baccys can knock you on your ars when retrohaled. A cigar buddy of mine, wanted to smoke some Brown Irish X, so I let him. When he retrohaled, I thought he was going to die. LMAO his eyes turned red and started watering from the burn.


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## SmokinSpider (May 12, 2010)

lol thats pretty funny,
sadly my B&M's never have any of the strong stuff like that so I am safe for now.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

shannensmall said:


> Some of the stronger baccys can knock you on your ars when retrohaled.


Yeah, you probably need to work up gradually, say:

LuxNavyFlake->IrishFlake->1792->Tambolaka->M79...


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## Jivey (Dec 6, 2010)

M79 is a different kind of strong. But it will make you feel like you would rather die than smoke it again when you are done.


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## sckfck (Mar 17, 2011)

Hi, could somebody please define retrohale?


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## shannensmall (Jun 30, 2010)

Alex, to retrohale, is the act of taking a puff of smoke into your mouth be it from a pipe or a cigar, then forcing a controlled amount of the smoke from in your mouth, out through your nostrils. This gets your olfactory involved allowing you to really "taste" the tobacco. Your tongue can only taste sweet, salt, hot, sour. To be able to taste anything else, like all the nuances in quality tobacco, you have to involve your olfactories. To get a better idea of what I'm talking about, tonight wile eating dinner, take your first few bites wile pinching your nose. Your food will taste very bland.


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## sckfck (Mar 17, 2011)

shannensmall said:


> Alex, to retrohale, is the act of taking a puff of smoke into your mouth be it from a pipe or a cigar, then forcing a controlled amount of the smoke from in your mouth, out through your nostrils. This gets your olfactory involved allowing you to really "taste" the tobacco. Your tongue can only taste sweet, salt, hot, sour. To be able to taste anything else, like all the nuances in quality tobacco, you have to involve your olfactories. To get a better idea of what I'm talking about, tonight wile eating dinner, take your first few bites wile pinching your nose. Your food will taste very bland.


Thanks so much for defining the term for me. I definitely retrohale, just didn't know the proper term. 
Take Care


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

I never retrohale. To me, the taste is awful, and all subtlety of the blend is lost.


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## Zogg (Aug 31, 2010)

i actually dont like retrohaling that much, it bothers my nose, the only thing ive ever been able to retrohale are super super mild cigars and hookah smoke


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## Firedawg (Nov 8, 2010)

I did retro the M79. Not a good idea gents, please take this as a friendly warning.

Also yes retrohale is the way to go to truly enjoy a good smoke and pick up the flavors that can hide in the background of a good smoke.


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## Nachman (Oct 16, 2010)

Try retrohaling a strong Kentucky tobacco. It will singe your nose hairs.


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## sckfck (Mar 17, 2011)

When I retrohale I will usually exhale part of the smoke through my mouth first and that seems to lessen the intensity of the retrohale. I do gather a different amount of flavors when retrohaling.


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## shannensmall (Jun 30, 2010)

sckfck said:


> When I retrohale I will usually exhale part of the smoke through my mouth first and that seems to lessen the intensity of the retrohale. I do gather a different amount of flavors when retrohaling.


With practice you will eventually be able to have complete control over how much smoke you push through your nose. Least I can now.


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## sckfck (Mar 17, 2011)

shannensmall said:


> With practice you will eventually be able to have complete control over how much smoke you push through your nose. Least I can now.


As my father always said... "practice, practice, practice.."


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## skydvejam (Feb 27, 2011)

Yes but it is truly the way to taste all of the tobacco, did some Tambolaka yesterday, wow that has a lot of flavor to it, but the first little bit was a kick.


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## laloin (Jun 29, 2010)

I had to learn how to retrohale, before was just blowing the smoke out. Really wasn't picking any taste of the blend, save sweet, sour, salty. But when I started to retrohale wow opened up a whole new level of pipe smoking. Now it's 2nd nature for me.
well it's 2nd nature for everyone caz you breathe in and out of your nose, save when your sick, or your snooring
troy


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## shannensmall (Jun 30, 2010)

I will say this, pipe baccy seems to have more flavor than any cigar when not retrohaled. I can only guess that this is because just about all pipe baccy has a topping or a casing of some sort. BUT, and a BIG BUT, retrohaling still allows one to fully taste every nuance of the baccy, where you only get the basic idea of the true flavor without it.


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## User Name (Feb 11, 2011)

I love to retrohale, and I do it with perique, it really wakes me up.

I retrohaled IF and it made my sneeze and my eyes water, felt soo good though and was so yummy.


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## sckfck (Mar 17, 2011)

shannensmall said:


> I will say this, pipe baccy seems to have more flavor than any cigar when not retrohaled. I can only guess that this is because just about all pipe baccy has a topping or a casing of some sort. BUT, and a BIG BUT, retrohaling still allows one to fully taste every nuance of the baccy, where you only get the basic idea of the true flavor without it.


Well I do find myself retrohaling more often when smoking a stick vs a pipe. I fully agree that retrohaling enables tasting all of the flavor/s of the tobacco.


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## Hermit (Aug 5, 2008)

I always do. Most of taste is smell.
Try taking a puff while holding your 
nose and see if you can taste it.


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## Natedogg (Jun 21, 2010)

User Name said:


> I love to retrohale, and I do it with perique, it really wakes me up.
> 
> I retrohaled IF and it made my sneeze and my eyes water, felt soo good though and was so yummy.


Haha, yeah. Some blends are pretty brutal when you retrohale and I can only do it a little bit.


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## BrewShooter (Mar 17, 2011)

So, that's what this is called. I was watching a couple of Youtube vids and noticed one of the guys exhaling a small amount of smoke through his nose. At first I wondered, is he inhaling?!?!? Now, I understand what he was doing.


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## gpearson (Jun 1, 2010)

Cracked into my Jackknife Plug today - I usually retrohale and have no problem doing so with things like Irish Flake, Westminster, et al.

However - Jackknife just about blew my nose off. I could've sworn there was a ton of perique from the sensation...but none in the blend!


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## Space Cowboy (Nov 25, 2010)

Glad I found this thread and tried it! Retro definitly makes for a stronger taste.


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## Mr.Lordi (May 20, 2007)

What's retrohale?

Is that when you let a taxi pass you by and then you hail it back, just to mess with the driver? lol

Or did we come up with a new name for snorking?

EDIT:

RETRO HALE: http://www.otrstreet.com/alan_hale.jpg LOL!


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## shannensmall (Jun 30, 2010)

gpearson said:


> Cracked into my Jackknife Plug today - I usually retrohale and have no problem doing so with things like Irish Flake, Westminster, et al.
> 
> However - Jackknife just about blew my nose off. I could've sworn there was a ton of perique from the sensation...but none in the blend!


That's the Kentucky at it's finest.


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## gpearson (Jun 1, 2010)

shannensmall said:


> That's the Kentucky at it's finest.


Aha! Thanks for the information - made it a touch of a miserable smoke, but next time around I'll just skip that step!


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## shannensmall (Jun 30, 2010)

Bah, I actually like the burn. You just have to learn how to control how much smoke you put through your sinuses. Believe it or not, they will eventually toughen up. I barley get any burn from anything I retrohale anymore.


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## gpearson (Jun 1, 2010)

Hmm - I'll try to modulate better. Usually its not a problem, but I remember my first nose exhale of that bowl was a huge one, and wham.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

MarkC said:


> I never retrohale. To me, the taste is awful, and all subtlety of the blend is lost.


Agreed.


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## ChronoB (Nov 4, 2007)

Quote:

 Originally Posted by *MarkC*  
_I never retrohale. To me, the taste is awful, and all subtlety of the blend is lost._




> Agreed.


You know, this brings up something interesting to me. Although not everyone retrohales in the sense they are forcing the smoke up through their sinuses/nose, some smoke it going to naturally make its way up there (as well as back in through your nostrils after you've blown out the smoke). In _that _sense we're _all _retrohaling.

That being said, are their times during your smokes where you think to your self "the subtlety is gone and this tastes awful"? If so, perhaps those are the occasions the smoke gets up into your sinuses.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

I get my "smell factor" from the sidestream. Retrohaling gives me the same flavors just with a sort of strong, stale tobacco flavor on top that I don't like.


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## BrewShooter (Mar 17, 2011)

I tried it today. It's interesting, the flavor is much more intense, but I could only do it every once in a while as it also had a tendency to kill my sinuses. I think I need more practice.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

shannensmall said:


> Bah, I actually like the burn. You just have to learn how to control how much smoke you put through your sinuses. Believe it or not, they will eventually toughen up. I barley get any burn from anything I retrohale anymore.


Well, that's another thing: I don't _want_ my sinuses to 'toughen up'. I was very glad to get my sense of smell back after throwing the ciggies away, and I don't see the point of doing that again, particularly in the name of more taste...


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

ChronoB said:


> Quote:
> 
> Originally Posted by *MarkC*
> _I never retrohale. To me, the taste is awful, and all subtlety of the blend is lost._
> ...


Yeah, whenever a good shot goes up the nose (and it does happen), I can tell it happens. It's not enough to "remove all subtlety", etc., but it does take away from the taste to me. Kind of like changing 'steak' to 'burnt steak'.

On the other hand, I catch myself french inhaling (only slightly!) oriental blends, and that doesn't bother me. Maybe it's the 'smoke going the wrong way' that does it...


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## Zogg (Aug 31, 2010)

I just had sillem's black, and tried retrohaling it. it was really good!

then i had a cigar and tried it and nearly killed myself o.o


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## shannensmall (Jun 30, 2010)

lol, yeah cigars by nature are usually rougher on the retrohale.


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